36. Family Reunion

My little bats were hard at work in both following my directives and carving their places in the cosmos. I was proud of them; my first mistake turned into a true blessing.

Their society had grown and matured, and with the growing ties with other sophonts, it didn't cease, notably the Young 'not so young now' Races with the Ark of Life integration into reality. No matter what the future reserve, death on a galactic scale would happen; saving the ones that wanted to before it was too late was a must, just as recruiting them in the war effort.

All were brought into the Dark Cradle of their own volition, from the engineering orangutans, the Jokaero, to the ever-adapting Kroot that were the degenerated descendants of the Rashan. There were less advanced species, too, some barely beginning to explore their star system like the Laer, a very diverse race with multiple forms they could artificially shed for dramatically different environments and purposes while always keeping a somewhat serpentine base.

The latter became one of my most devout worshipers, and without forcing it upon them, I didn't do that after all. And doing so was heavily reprehensible. Liberty of choice was most important, as were the consequences; freedom needed regulation, after all. Friendship was magic, but only to a certain extent.

Though I must admit the Laer take on my worship was original since they naturally didn't have psykers, so no magecraft. For them, it was the seeking of structured progress to a hypothetical ideal of perfection that, in their mind, I embodied.

Silly mortals.

Nevertheless, within my domains, Magic, Travel, and Darkness were to be taken literally and philosophically; there wasn't only one correct interpretation. None were, and all were. They shaped me as a God, and it was why I needed to manipulate things a bit to avoid unpleasant results.

Notably, for the Orks, using them as a source of psychic energy was still an ongoing project. My impact on the Krork still resonates in their culture to this day, the first and kick spell of their psykers, the 'Weirdboyz,' but otherwise, it was merely confused references with no head, tail, or body.

Frankly, it was an excellent idea on paper. The Ork gestalt field was immensely potent, growing according to their number. Still, the greenskins' psychic energy wasn't from the Warp and interacted with more orthodox psychic energy in exciting ways.

It was how they resisted the three tumors' corruption well and why their two Gods were kept in their little pocket realm, like oil in water.

Speaking of Gork and Mork, I didn't yet contact them and wasn't sure if it would prove worthwhile. From the information I collected, they were acceptably strong, but with the never-ending culling of the Orks by the Aeldari Empire, they were severely limited.

And their philosophy of life was unique, to say the least. They embodied their makers' way of thinking, but compared to the mortals, change was antithetical to them. Fighting was what they were, friends or foes; it didn't matter; only strength and a good fight did.

I was truly conflicted, but since they never left their little bubble and I didn't have the personal power to incite them to fight the incoming beldam, I left them punching one another for the foreseeable future.

And if that pisses them off that I divert part of their energy, then so be it. It's their problem; unlike the Cancerous Gods, they weren't entranced into the concept of reality to a terrifying level where they embodied parts of it themselves like the C'tan.

It meant that Yuggoth had enough fuel to permanently cripple them at worst and, at best, rid them of their existence. And also that greatly damaging them wouldn't irrevocably wound both the psychic and physical realm, again like the Necrontyr's Slavers

As to why it was only good in theory for using the Orks, they weren't designed for that like the Aeldari or had an innate potential like most mortals for that, and while the psychic energy they produced was potent if rightly calibrated, it had a frequency quite like not any others. I couldn't just recklessly take it in and hope not to be 'Orkyfied' if I were to put it into a simple word, but it was just a temporary barrier.

Anyway…

Any of those growing diplomatic bridges between this broken and extended family paled compared to its new members, Altansar, and its Aeldari population pseudo-alliance with the Dark Coven. Besides the potential bonus, if Orikan succeeded even a little in the task, I gave him.

The emphasis on 'pseudo' both species were as arrogant as their Gods, me included, to my honor. One thought themselves perfect, and the other the chosen one. Both were only in the recesses of their minds, but it was blatantly clear what they thought of themselves, and it was hilarious for me at the sheer wrongness of said self-centered view.

Though the fact ones were hyper-emotional psykers and the second emphatic vampires played a role too.

Putting this aside.

In this entire affair, the most flabbergasting aspect was the local Autarch's blatant declaration of war—a reckless and insane act yet ingenious to the highest degree.

It was an act of extreme arrogance, but that was only on a surface level; with that little stunt of his, he made my bats part of the civil war he began by association, their wanted status reaching new heights. And this war was certainly aimed to force the others Maiden World and Craftworld across the Milky Way and Labyrinthine Dimension to take their metaphorical heads out of their metaphorical asses too.

Because hiding and looking away from the incoming apocalypse was in no way helpful to diminish its consequences, and that was all they were doing until now.

They were all allies; after all, though smart it was, it would have great consequences on the diplomatic front. No one likes to have their hand forced. But then again, if the mortal wanted to continue their meaningless pissing contest, more were here to replace them.

A shared polytheistic religion didn't mean an absence of internal conflict, sadly. But the same logic is applied as before. Normally, I would be more lenient, but it wasn't a time of normalcy, and they weren't ignorant of it.

The pesky psychic plague from the insane twat called Shaimesh had shown that it was a sin in and out of itself. It had delayed response and led to several hundreds of thousands of dead, a third of the Khrave not having suffered from other types of soul-wrenching poison I sent counted within.

Many of which permanently so, the healing properties of Dylath-Leen on Yuggoth were grandiose, but soul destruction at a certain level just couldn't be healed from. At least not in any manner that the end of the individuals would be similar to the start; fiddling with time was the only alternative, but it worked more on the material.

It was a weapon I wouldn't have batted an eye to see being used in the war back then; well, it had critical flaws in that it was psychic, and as such, Palestone weakened it immensely and could be subsequently healed. It was why this psychic plague was stopped before it reached a catastrophic level, but the cruelty behind it equaled that of the Star Gods or more emotional Necron Overlords.

And it wasn't eradicated in its totality. Every now and then, an outbreak would begin.

The one contaminated and purified could become sick again if the concept itself remained in their mind. It was a magnificent creation that would exist forever until the emitter was shut down. It was why it couldn't just be waved off and why the equivalent of partial soul lobotomy was the best cure.

It was worrying…

And with that, I came to learn of the Dark Muses. They were mysterious and foolish parasites lacking any understanding of what they were doing or for whom they were working but very much leading figures of the Aeldari Empire.

Figures of which I sorely lacked in information, even with Altansar's full cooperation in sharing their database. And what I got turned a grim picture into an even grimmer one.

They were unknown in number, but three stood out, each holding dominion on one aspect of the depraved Empire's ways of existence.

First was Shaimesh under the lofty name of the Lord of Poison and all that came after beyond I didn't know much aside from that he had killed his brother, and that had led to the founding of a Craftworld called Saim-Hann in the said brother's name honor.

Lhilitu came after; she was the Consort of the Void, another lofty title and not the last. To put it mildly, she was quite literally described as manipulative beyond sanity, an attention whore, and a whore period. It wasn't even put into flowery language, showing a total absence of respect and a high level of spite.

And third was Vileth, the Cardinal Gospel, first of the Dark Muse and, de facto Emperor of the Aeldari with how far his claws reached. He was one of the oldest Aeldari, with the wildest rumor alluding to him being of the War in Heaven. In addition to that, he was likely one of the most powerful psykers alive of the Aeldari and mortal as a whole until my pet project on Earth bore fruit.

I knew of him, his presence; that is when I began to be bolder in observing the Warp. I sensed him. It just put a name on his potent soul. There was the fact that he felt vaguely familiar, too. But that was distant, and it most probably was him being an offshoot of my old followers before their rather… violent demise at my brother's burning blade.

The possibility that he had been one of mine was not forgotten, however.

Those Dark Muses were to be put down and, if sighted under adequate conditions, to be hunted with extreme prejudice. It would have been much simpler if I could fire the Blackstone Fortresses at them, but alas, doing so would tear open the barriers between the Warp, Labyrinthine Dimension, and Realspace with countless more consequences. Passing Yuggoth into Realspace was also a nay for similar reasons.

I could shut down the shield matrices to pass the Veil, but that was setting the defenses back up the big problem. As such, the ancient planet was unconventionally trapped in the Warp.

'It's a fucking pain…' I thought, massaging my heads, both my real body and my Avatar Danxama, on my way to the long overdue family meeting by proxy.

I was nervous. An alien sensation to my being I didn't feel since the bitch ripped me apart with my humanity. But it didn't divert me from my goal; it wasn't time for family drama.

And so, floating in this body of bronze-like living metal, I waved a hand, the door in front of me vanishing in a show of iridescent light, giving me a visual of the two standing individuals I had sensed behind in a room of lightless and featureless grey.

The first was a child of gender unknown dressed in a puffy, colorful robe of complex, seemingly random pattern with methodical madness, a theater mask divided in joy, anger, and sadness over the face. At the same time, a hood covered the rest, cloaking the tiny body in its entirety.

The second was a blond female Aeldari dressed in an uncomplex pure white dress with the only ornament being an embroidery of pure gold representing the All Seeing Eyes, the divine symbol of my second eldest sister. Her face was behind a veil, and her eyes were closed while sparkling tears trailed down, dissipating in the air before sullying the robe.

"Quite underwhelming for the reunion of the eon, I know, dear brother, and I'm greatly ashamed, but the others lack suitable vessels! Anyhow! How did Death treat you, Hoopa? I hope you didn't traumatize him too much since your departure in a spectacular firework?" The child possessed by Cegorach over-dramatically exclaimed.

"Hmm, deathly boring. It's nothing and some more, a failing grade on all aspects, I do not recommend." I said with mirth in my voice, and the clown didn't seem to have changed if the giggle was any indication.

"And you? I hope my surprise absence wasn't the source of great dismay." I asked back, floating on my back, and I was physically here; my tail would have been waving around.

"I would lie to you and myself if I answered negatively, but I made do. Oh! There is an infinite library to recount! You have missed much-" He wasn't able to finish as the woman on the side cleared her throat loudly.

"I see your merriment, but I fear it is not the time for pleasantries and family banter, brothers." The way it was spoken was stern, far sterner than what I was used to with Isha; her tone was grave even.

"My apologies." Cegorach said, shaking his head, "As per Isha's words, time is critical, but that is evidence to you as well, isn't it?"

"Indeed, the Fall is coming at great pace toward us; hedonism and extremes have grown in excess, and annihilation is brewing." I let out darkly, my displeasure and horror unhidden to them. Slaanesh birth was an event of extreme concern, even for me. It wouldn't put a direct risk on my life, but that changed none of my thoughts on the matter.

"Though before anything, I must ask." I began, genuine anger rising, causing both to tense up, "Where is Asuryan? What is he doing? Why did he let degeneracy in the Aeldari Empire fester? Didn't he know what it would lead to?"

I knew the answer before Isha said it; the distress was all too clear.

"I… I'm not… We trusted him, we trusted his judgments, we trusted his wisdom. It has never failed us. Morai-Heg had warned of the Hour of Demise, the 'Fall' you speak of. We were worried, but we believed in his words that our might would suffice. We held faith in our ability to halt it, to guide our children in time of need. We were wrong. We waited and waited for our King to act, to lift the barrier erected to protect the Aeldari of Khaine's fearful wrath, for us to shine enlightenment on them, yet he didn't…"

Arrogance was then, but that was only a part of the bigger picture. It was how it happened but not why it was let on today.

"Then comes the funny part of the joke: we have weakened to the point that now we can't lift the barrier keeping us in that section of the Labyrinthine Dimension anymore. Ah, and the throne, which was the key, doesn't work anymore, too. Ran out of fuel. We played ourselves like fools. Well, they did. I always was off the mind to put our genocidal, warmongering older brother in the naughty corner for a few million cycles, but the blazing poultry and Momo didn't like my idea. It is what it is." The Great Harlequin butted in with schadenfreude at the Pantheon situation, confirming one of my fears.

Fuck. It was terrible and one of the worst-case scenarios possible. The barrier wasn't just a projection of energy; it was tied to the Labyrinthine Dimension and the Celestian Enclave. The Zenith Dominion, as Cegorach said, was key, but it can't function without my dark energy, and it was designed for only one user, the sharing of psychic energy interfering with plenty of necessary processes.

It should have never been a problem; I didn't even keep the 'weakness' of it secret from them...

"And you request for my assistance to free you." I pondered aloud before snickering, "Tearing the barrier is within the realm of possibility, but you certainly understand it's a last resort."

"We do, and that is an… acceptable scenario if extreme measures are required. I see that your strength has also been sapped, but I fail to understand. Could you not teleport us out?" And there comes the important question from Isha. Hope was on the face she wore.

How naive and innocent of the Merciful Mother. Let's be bluntly true and destroy any false ideas before they develop further.

"I would with pleasure, Isha, if I could. Murdering Mother came with a heavy punishment in the form of imprisonment in the womb from which I was born." I revealed there was a microsecond of silence as both processed what I said.

"What…?"

"So that's why the bottle is called like this, and you use this puppet…"

To which the reaction was who was easy to determine.

"Let's proceed. There is much to discuss and plans," I said, snapping both back to me.

*

My P@treon if you are interested.

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